


Weekly Lessons

by afteriwake



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Awesome Molly, Awesome Molly Hooper, BAMF Molly, Eventual Relationships, F/M, Fluff, Matchmaking, fighting lessons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 11:46:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4827980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mary begins giving Molly weekly lessons in how to defend herself, drawing John and Sherlock into the lessons, and starts working on playing matchmaker at the same time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Weekly Lessons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [daisherz365](https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisherz365/gifts), [katemiller](https://archiveofourown.org/users/katemiller/gifts).



> So a few days ago **katemiller** needed some cheer-up fic where Molly was being awesome and (though it took me a while) I decided to write it based on a headcanon from **[daisherz365](http://sincerelydayyy.tumblr.com/post/121217446585/let-there-be-headcanons-ii)** (" _Molly learning to fight from Mary to the point that she gets so good that a weekly sparring match happens in 221C - finally giving Mrs. Hudson a reason to lease it out to someone. She does wonder why the noise is so deafening every Saturday at 3pm_ "), who today needed some cheer-up fic, so I killed two birds with one stone! Hope this cheers both of you guys up! ::snuggles:: All of the lessons that Molly is taught come from [this post](http://penaltywaltz.tumblr.com/post/128015677841/hey-sass-butt-cutiereferences) on Tumblr.

_**Lesson 1:**  
Yelling and shouting makes you scary._

“What on earth is that ruckus?” John asked as Molly's raised voice could be heard from 221C. John hadn’t thought she could yell so loud, but apparently Molly had quite the set of lungs.

Sherlock didn’t look up from his experiment. “She asked Mary to give her lessons in how to fight. I suggested they ask Mrs. Hudson for use of the spare flat. No one will rent it while I’m here and she could use the extra bit of income.” His eyes widened ever so slightly as Molly let loose a string of expletives. “I’m honestly surprised she knows those words.”

John tilted his head slightly. “You thought Molly was a saint of some sort?” he asked in an amused tone.

“No, just more…demure. Feminine. With her love of all things floral and her cherry printed jumper and the fact she has what seems like a million romance novels in her flat—” There was another string of profanity and now Sherlock straightened up.

“Sherlock, you _do_ know what’s in a romance novel, don’t you?” John asked curiously.

“Romantic twaddle,” he said, shrugging.

A grin crossed John’s face and he shook his head. He didn’t want to disabuse Sherlock of his notion of a rather saintly and pure Molly any more than this afternoon was already doing. “Come on. We might as well go save my wife’s eardrums and see where they want to go out to eat for lunch today.”

“Fine,” he said, pulling himself away and glaring at John.

_**Lesson 2:**  
Draw blood if you can, especially if you can draw it from the face or the eyes. Blood in the eyes is not just a good way to impair your attacker’s vision, it’s also a really good way to freak them out and let them know that they might be getting more than they bargained for by picking a fight with you. Also if you mess up their face it’ll be easier for police to identify the attacker._

“All right. Now, while it’s not a good idea to _hit_ your attacker in the face, causing quite a bit of damage to it _is_ a good idea,” Mary said as she stood across from Molly. “You know how Catwoman held out her claws in the movies?”

“Are we talking the old Adam West one, ‘Batman Returns’ or that Halle Berry abomination?” Molly asked.

Mary grinned. “’Batman Returns.’ Michelle Pfieffer wanted to do damage when she fought, and that’s the mindset you want to keep. Aim for the face with your nails. Claw above the eye so the blood drips into the eye, temporarily blinding your attacker.”

“I don’t keep my nails that long,” Molly said, showing Mary her hands.

Mary took one of Molly’s hands in hers, studying it. “Well, you can file them to a bit of a sharp edge, I suppose. Just be more careful when you scratch an itch.” Then she got a slightly impish grin. “Or someone else’s back.”

“There’s no one else’s back to scratch,” she said glumly. “Much as I’d really love to sometimes. All I get coming round my way are tossers and wankers. I don’t want to let them _near_ my knickers.”

Mary tilted her head. “A certain consulting detective hasn’t made a move?”

“No, he hasn’t,” she said, removing her hand. “And I doubt he ever will. He’s too caught up in his experiments and his music and his friendship with you and John for all that.”

“I see,” Mary said thoughtfully.

_**Lesson 3:**  
Use your dominant hand (which is usually the hand you write with). Keep your wrist straight. When you punch, you want to aim and hit with your first two knuckles. You can use your weight, if you’re on your feet, to add wallop, and spring into a punch with your feet and torso. Don’t aim for the face if you're hitting someone. If you want to get away quickly, or end a fight, aim for the chest, or the ribs. If you really want to do some damage, aim for the throat._

“Thank you for helping us out, Sherlock,” Mary told Sherlock with a smile. Sherlock was not smiling as much, instead studying Molly, who was in a vest and yoga pants. “We’re going to start with punching this week.”

“Shouldn’t I wear padding?” he asked.

“You actually think I’ll hurt you?” Molly asked, surprised.

“With Mary as your teacher, you might,” he said, he said. He smoothed down his T-shirt. "It depends on where she tells you to hit me. If she says to hit me in the chest or ribs, you might hurt yourself more. If she tells you to aim for my throat and you have power behind your punch, you might injure me.”

“But I don’t want to hurt you,” Molly said, wringing your hands.

“I’m not going to have you actually _hurt_ him,” Molly said with a chuckle. “You’ll be holding back. But we’re going to work on you aiming for the chest today. So use your dominant hand, Molly. Make sure you keep your wrist straight and when you punch, hit with your first two knuckles. Try and spring into the punch with your feet and your torso. All right, love?”

“All right,” Molly said with a nod. Sherlock stood in front of her, and Molly balled up her fist, took aim, and punched Sherlock in the chest. He stumbled backward slightly and her eyes widened. “Sherlock!”

“You do pack quite a punch,” he said approvingly, rubbing where her fist had impacted, and she grinned despite herself.

_**Lesson 4:**  
If you aim for the solar plexus, either jab while holding your hand in a sort of spear position or use your elbows - unless you're super strong your punch probably won't wind your attacker._

“I don’t know how I got roped into this,” John said, looking at Mary.

“I’d ask Sherlock to do it but he’s taller so his solar plexus is higher up,” she said, opening the door to 221C. She and John stood there, looking at the sight of Molly practicing on a dummy with various parts marked on it. “What’s this?” she asked Molly.

“I got in here and found this waiting,” she said.

Mary turned to look at John. “Sherlock?” she asked quietly.

“Sherlock,” he said with a grin. “Guess you don’t need me as a stand-in today.”

“Guess not,” she said, leaning over to give her husband a kiss. “See you later, love.” She stepped into the flat and then went to Molly. “Well, this helps.”

“It lights up when you hit it in the pressure points,” she said with a smile. She jabbed at the solar plexus, and then frowned when nothing happened. “It did it earlier.”

“Well, it’s a good thing it didn’t because that’s today’s lesson,” Mary said. “When you aim for the solar plexus, you want to do it with your hand in either a spear position or use your elbows.” She bent her elbow and then jabbed the dummy in the solar plexus with her elbow hard. The dummy lit up. 

“You could do some serious damage,” Molly noted.

“It is very effective,” Mary said.

“I think it’s good we’re not using John today,” Molly said, grinning.

“Yes, it is,” Mary replied with a laugh.

_**Lesson 5:**  
If you're in a choke hold, aim for the shin, either the anterior shin splints at the upper outside part of the leg or the posterior shin splints on the lower inside part of the leg. And turn your head so the forearm isn’t pressed into your throat. If you can position yourself right, you can sort of force your chin into the crook of the elbow, making you able to still receive (limited) oxygen._

“Thanks for helping us again, Sherlock,” Mary said. “I thought we’d move on to choke holds, and since most men who might put Molly into a hold are going to be taller than her you’re perfect since my husband, bless him, is a wee bit on the short side.”

“It’s not a problem,” Sherlock said, standing behind Molly.

“All right. Put her in a choke hold,” Mary said. He didn’t move. “Sherlock?”

“You won’t hurt me,” Molly said, turning to him with a smile. “And I do promise I’ll try not to hurt you too much when I go for the shin splints.”

“Oh, so she went over that?” he asked

She nodded. “I just need to practice.”

“Well, I suppose I could deal with a small amount of pain for, say…coffee afterward?” he asked, a bit hesitantly.

“Umm, all right,” she said, giving him a shy smile. “Or maybe we could have lunch instead? I usually get so hungry after these lessons.”

“Lunch would be fine,” he said. After a moment he moved closer and put her into a choke hold. “All right. Let’s see what Mary taught you.”

After a moment Molly turned her head so that his forearm wasn’t pressed into her throat, forcing her chin into the crook of his elbow. Then she took the heel of her foot and slammed it into the posterior shin splint of his right leg. He yelped and let go and she turned with wide eyes. “Sorry!”

“It’s okay,” he said.

_**Lesson 6:**  
If your attacker is a bloke, hit him in the bollocks. Remember that a guy’s junk is not an off-button, though. Don’t think that you can rely on a swift kick to the balls to immediately incapacitate him in an emergency. Adrenaline and anger can keep somebody going for a long time even through extreme pain, and if you expect to end a fight with a single groin-attack you might be caught off-guard when he doesn’t drop. Certainly go for it if you get the chance, but keep hitting him until the fight is over._

“You’re progressing quite well,” Mary said to Molly as they, John and Sherlock left Baker Street to get lunch after a lesson. “I was wondering…do you want to start sparring soon? I miss doing it, and I think you can get so much more out of it all if you start doing something like fighting.”

“Oh, I’d love to!” Molly said, grinning widely. “That’d be wonderful.”

Whatever Mary was going to say in response died on her lips when a man came in front of them, gun drawn. “Handbags and wallets, hand them over.” Molly and Mary both handed over their handbags and John and Sherlock began to get out their wallets, but they were apparently moving too slowly, and then man moved closer, aiming the gun at Molly. “Faster, or I shoot her!”

Molly glared, and took a step before kicking them man in his genitals. He groaned, and then she stepped closer and punched him in the throat before grabbing his shoulders and then kneeing him in the groin. He crumpled down on the ground and then she kicked him until Sherlock pulled her away. “I think he’s incapacitated,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her hands clenched by her sides.

“In all honesty, I’ll feel much safer with you around,” he said.

She looked up at him with a smile. “Really?”

He nodded. “Mary is a good teacher, and you’re a good student.” He looked down at the groaning man. “I think our lunch plans will have to be postponed.”

“Unfortunately,” she said.

“Perhaps I can make it up to you with dinner?” he suggested. “Perhaps without John and Mary?”

“As in a date?” she asked, surprised.

He nodded. “Our second.”

She grinned. “I’d like that a lot.”

“Good,” he said with a grin of his own.


End file.
